AMT Back Up II - DAO

Welcome to the first installment of our AMT Hat Trick series with the AMT Back Up II DAO .380 ACP caliber pistol. Here we will explore this pistol in detail, some AMT history surrounding the companies founder Harry Sanford, as well as the wide array of other firearm designs they produced.
While some speak badly about AMT there was a tremendous amount of innovative design involved with the guns they produced as well as a constant "thinking outside the box" mentality that I grew to respect and be fascinated by. It may be true that they need a little bit more "incentive" to function than most guns but they never "played it safe" making clones of what everyone else was doing and breaking new ground constantly is not an easy task if all your being judged by is perfect function.
Thanks for tuning in.....subscribe and turn on notifications to be alerted when the next videos drop and check out these other instalments in our AMT "Hat Trick" series.
• AMT Automag II
• AMT Automag III

[@csipawpaw7921]

I own one of the first OMC Backups, which was the original or forrunner of the .AMC. My wife purchased it for me back in the 70s. She had to have a gun dealer order it from the factory as they were non in Oklahoma as they were so new on the market. I carried it as a backup to my dutty weapon for many years. It was very reliable and very accurate. I could regularly keep my rounds inside the nine ring at 50 yards. My departments backup qualifications required we be able to shoot out to 50 yards just like we did with our duty weapons!

[@MilsurpGarage]

Harry was OMC as well.....Ordinance Manufacturing Corporation back in the El Monte days. It was always Harry until he died. Thanks for watching.

[@joeberlando9610]

Grea Video! I have an early nineties .380 back up II from Irwindale CA and it malfunctions constantly lol.

[@MilsurpGarage]

As long as it isn’t only me! Seriously, ya gotta really love AMT’s.

[@davidcoudriet8439]

Thanks for another detailed and historical in depth vid. I always liked these guns. Not crazy about Gunbroker prices anymore .

[@MilsurpGarage]

Yeah but they open up your acquisition possibilities greatly. You can wait a lifetime for something to come through a local gun store or show.....you kind of have to buy whatever comes. Gunbroker opens you up to the largest gun show in the world.....from the comfort of your couch. Problem is, everyone else is there with you. It’s not gunbroker that sets the prices....its what the collector market is setting. Thanks for tuning in!

[@pilotmiami1]

Bravo.thenks

[@ronaldroberts8515]

There was one of these at the gun shop i go to for sale and was used. Man ill tell ya i stared at the gun and think there really cool and thought hard on getting it but i did not. The one thing bout this gun not appealing was takedown for cleaning. Thanx for sharing.

[@MilsurpGarage]

It’s not a gun for taking down but real easy to clean….remove the grips, wedge a cartridge case in the open action, spray it down with gunscrubber, light compressed air dry off, a liberal dose of ballistol, run an oiled bore snake through, wipe clean, replace grips.

[@crankygunreviews]

Nice history lesson

[@MilsurpGarage]

Nice of you to say......only scratching the surface of the AMT story though! Amazing story. Been waiting a long time to do this series justice. Thanks for tuning in.....I watch your channel as well....maybe we can do a collab one day.

[@crankygunreviews]

@@MilsurpGarage most of my history lessons are just the dust on the surface of the history lol. But thanks. Mutual respect, and interesting topics make our channels

[@1957Shep]

I have one of the Javelina 10mm pistols. But it`s the 5 inch barrel/slide variation. It feeds and ejects just fine. But the recoil will sometimes engage the slide lock before the mag is empty.

[@MilsurpGarage]

That was an issue for Larry Grossman with the early Automag (one word) guns that he solved with a stiffer spring. Is your Javelina an early version?

[@1957Shep]

@@MilsurpGarage Not sure when it was made. It`s one of the IAI marked Irwindale guns. So it`s probably not one of the early guns.

[@MilsurpGarage]

@@1957Shep No, those are EXACTLY the early ones.

[@1957Shep]

@@MilsurpGarage I did a video with that gun a while back where it did lock open on the 4th or 5th shot. Just looked it up. It is set to go live on Dec. 30th.

[@MilsurpGarage]

2023 or 2024? HA!

[@travhammer]

I have a first generation AMT Hardballer Long Slide, while reliable, it was cheap material wise.

[@MilsurpGarage]

Yeah, the AMT price point Harry was shooting for sometimes affected fit and finish but overall I feel they were a good bang for the buck.

[@roberta.6399]

My dao 380 eats whatever I feed it so far. Been 20 yrs, cant remember any jams. I only run about 20 rounds thru it at a time because it bites a bit, but thats ok. Mine is a dependable backup and bbq rosco.

[@MilsurpGarage]

Does yours suffer from horrible accuracy? I have to be real close to a target to group….and I mean close.

[@roberta.6399]

​​@@MilsurpGarage Using the mag with the pinky rest I get hand size groups out to 7 yards. Correction 5 yds.

[@NurseNick420]

Is it safe to carry this racked? I have a DAO in .380. I’ve heard mixed things like some people say the sear is too weak to carry racked while others say it’s fine.

[@MilsurpGarage]

I’ve never really heard anything, but if it’s DAO is there really a sear that can just drop and cause it to go off? I thought part of the safety for one of these in DAO is that the hammer has to actually strike the firing pin.

[@NurseNick420]

@@MilsurpGarage Maybe I'm thinking of the little Jennings/Jiminez/Bryco guns (I own one of those too). I just remember reading that these "Saturday-night special" guns are unsafe to carry. Does the AMT DAO have a drop safety?

[@MilsurpGarage]

AMT were frequently lumped into the “Saturday Night Special” category simply because of the low cost of their products and not necessarily because of any functional difficulties or questionable quality issues. Harry Sanford simply refused to charge market prices and instead always offered a great price deal on all AMT offerings…. I speak about this in one of these AMT trifecta videos, forget which one….thought it was this one actually. The DOA action is very safe for even pocket carry (at your own risk of course!) because of the nature of its operation but of course every example is different and specific research is needed to narrow this particular model down. From what I can see the action isn’t “charged” at all until you start pulling the trigger and only a full trigger pull will drop the hammer making it appear to be super safe during carry whether one was in the pipe or not.

[@Jaemon4Eva]

Thanks for this man. People talking shit without ever having owned one or shot one or they just heard about someone else talking shit. DAO triggers are not for sissies they are hard to learn hence why a lot of fudds talk shit about bobbing the hammer on revolvers or DAO revolvers too. Mine never had cycle issues because it was worked on by a gunsmith at a lgs. But people bitch about the dao.

[@MilsurpGarage]

I never had cycling issues at all.....just accuracy issues but its made for very close engagements so.....not REALLY an issue. It’s a back up....made for back up. Thanks for tuning in!

[@Bob-bb3ur]

Have you ever seen an AMT Clone of the Ruger Mark l with a 16 inch barrel.

[@MilsurpGarage]

So funny you should mention.......I'm in the process of editing AMT Hat Trick Video number II and I included a photo of that exact model in the video.

[@Bob-bb3ur]

@@MilsurpGarage I have that AMT Ruger Mark l clone stainless steel 16 in. barrel. 7 power scope owned it for over 20 years. Never jammed, very Accurate.

[@Johnny-jr2lq]

Hold on I thought 308/30-06 was a 45acp ???? I could be wrong.

[@MilsurpGarage]

Not a reloader so I’m dependent on internet info for this one……visited a forum where I saw this comment on the AMT .44 Automag/.308 brass/.45 acp reloading stuff…….. “A little off the subject but I make my .44/.357 Auto Mag cases from picked-up range brass which is mostly .30-06, .308, and .270. And, yes, they need to be reamed internally before a .429 bullet will fit. Going up to .451 for a .45 acp would make a mighty thin case in my estimation, same with a .452, 45 Colt.” So, sounds like it might be possible but not a good idea.

[@travisbell9014]

I always thought the backup was a cool gun

[@MilsurpGarage]

Right, it’s like it was criticized for being exactly what it was supposed to be. I remember I read a review on this new popular restaurant that was all the rage. Guy gave one star writing, “crowded, parking lot full of cars, waited 15 minutes at the bar to be seated……”. Yeah, and……. It’s what to expect. It’s not ideal but it’s what you walked into….. by the way, how was the food?? Huh??? Exactly. Shut up. The Back Up is a……BACK UP. One for a guy who’s primary is a six gun revolver….and it does THAT well.

[@dougalmcalpine6804]

Harry sounds a bit like my aunty's 5th husband who disappeared with all her money.

[@MilsurpGarage]

Uncle Harry......the company first.....no matter what.